Kindred Spirits
by erminefur
Summary: Set after the Battle of Culloden. A young woman finds herself inexplicably drawn to Lallybroch in a time far removed from her own. Why have the standing stones brought her here, to this particular time, and why does she feel so drawn to this place? New to fanfiction, but I had an idea I just had to write. Hope you enjoy, and let me know what you think!
1. Chapter 1

I was lying in the grass in front of the largest standing stone, without very much recollection of how I got there. 'I must've fainted' I thought. I reached for my phone, it was only just quarter past ten, so I couldn't have been laid there very long. I sat up and went to phone my sister, to ask her to come pick me up. If I'd fainted I didn't want to be out here in the middle of nowhere by myself any longer. The phone didn't even ring. No signal.

'Bloody Scotland.' I muttered under my breath and pulled myself to my feet. I was going to walk back to the road, to try and get my bearings and walk back to the village, but it was the strangest thing...I could not find the road. I was sure this was the right direction. I'd seen a car drive past not twenty minutes ago. I knew that my best option was to stay at the standing stones, and wait until the time my sister and I had agreed that she would come get me, but I couldn't help but feel that something was wrong, and that I needed to keep moving. I can't explain why, but I followed this instinct and set off walking. I had no idea about the local area, I didn't even know how to get back to where I was staying from Craigh na dun, but somehow I felt certain that the way I was going was the 'right way', whatever that was. I had a drink and some bits to eat in my rucksack, and surely along the way I must find some phone signal.

It was starting to get dark, and I began to realise I had made a huge mistake. I was cold, hungry and tired and I still hadn't managed to get my phone to work. Nevertheless, I trudged on, still feeling convinced somehow that this was the way to go. And then I saw it. A shape in the distance, and a light! It was a house! I quickened my pace until I was running across the glen towards the house, not even caring as I felt the first few drops of rain fall onto my face. I was so relieved and overjoyed! I had found it! The place I had been looking for the whole time, only I had no idea how I knew it was here.

By the time I reached the house it was pitch dark and the rain was pouring. I knocked loudly on the door and after a few moments a young woman with dark hair and a stern face answered. She was wearing some kind of period dress, made of thick, heavy material and had a corset.

'Um…I got lost, I was over by the standing stones at Craigh na dun, please may I use your phone?' I blurted out, shivering as I felt a raindrop slide down the back of my neck. The woman for a moment seemed speechless. She looked me up and down with the most peculiar look on her face. Suddenly she came to her senses and ushered me into the house.

'Come inside, out of the rain and the cold, I'll get you something warm to drink. I'll just go get my brother Jamie to come and sit by the fire through here with you. I am sure he would like to speak to you.' She spoke very quickly, as though she were nervous about something.

'Thank you, I really appreciate it but I really need to get in touch with…' I began but she had already disappeared. I sat myself down in the chair closest to the fire and looked around the room. It was very old fashioned, and it seemed that someone had gone to great lengths to make it appear that way. There were no electric lights, I could see no plug sockets anywhere and all the furniture looked antique.

'My sister told me we had a visitor.' The voice made me jump. I whipped round to see a man in the doorway. He had wavy red hair and the deepest blue eyes I had ever seen. He too was wearing a kind of period outfit, a loose fitting white shirt with baggy sleeves and a kilt. He crossed the room and handed me a blanket, which I wrapped around myself and a cup of something warm, that smelled like it might have whisky in it.

'Thank you.' I said as he sat himself down in the chair opposite mine. 'Yeah I was up at the standing stones at Craigh na dun and I think I must have had some kind of dizzy spell. I got lost and my phone wouldn't work. Please may I use yours to phone my sister, she'll be worried about me.'

'Another Sassenach.' The man said. He sighed and I thought a sad smile crossed his face. 'What's your name?'

'Annie.' I answered. I was becoming more and more worried that these people weren't going to let me use the phone, and didn't want to help me, but at the same time there was something about this man that made me feel oddly at ease, like I could trust him, almost at home…

'Annie, where are you from?'

'York,' I answered, 'but I'm studying at the University of Edinburgh, archaeology, that why I was up at the stones, I think I'd like to do a dig there.' The man nodded and paused, looking down at the floor for a moment before he asked.

'And Annie, when are you from?'

I felt completely dumbfounded. What kind of a question was that? I began to feel really uneasy now, but the man just stared at me, and as I stared back into his deep blue eyes I became calm and regained my courage.

'I-I'm sorry. I don't understand what you mean.' I said. The man stood up and walked over to lean on the mantelpiece.

'The year. What year was it when you arrived at the stones?' he asked calmly, though something seemed to be troubling him.

'2017.' I replied, frowning. The man inhaled deeply and looked at his feet. He walked over to me and crouched down in front of my chair, so that we were eye to eye.

'Not any more it isn't.' He said.

'What do you mean? Please I just need to use the phone.' I pleaded, feeling rather panicked now. I searched his face for some answer to what the hell was going on. Although he appeared calm, there was definitely some sadness there beneath the surface, perhaps even regret, a longing…

'That…that doesn't exist yet. The year now is 1747. You said you felt dizzy up at the stones?'

'What are you talking about, I want to go home, I need to tell my sister…' I began to feel tears prick my eyes. I couldn't help it I was frightened. Through my own tears I could see that the man's eyes had welled up as well, though his face remained impassive.

'You said you felt dizzy up at the stones.' He said again. His voice heavy.

'Yes, I have dizzy spells quite often, it's nothing strange.' I responded, unable to contain the desperation in my voice.

'And could you hear a buzzing?' He asked. His voice was beginning to sound desperate now too.

'Yes,' I cried, 'I thought it was just part of my dizziness though.' Tears were rolling thick and fast down my face now.

'And the tallest stone, you touched it didn't you?' A tear escaped his eye and slid down his cheek. His hands were on my shoulders now to steady me, I was frightened and shaking and crying. I didn't feel as though this man was lying to me, but how could he be telling the truth?

'I leant against it to steady myself, yes, and then the next thing I knew I was on the ground, I was…'

'In 1747.' He said. I looked into his eyes for a moment. I could see no lie. I began sobbing again and he began to cry softly too, though I didn't know why. He pulled my head into his chest and held me tight. I wrapped my arms around him too. Even though he was a complete stranger, even though he had just told me something so mad it couldn't possibly be true, but at the same time had to be. I held tightly to him and cried into his shoulder.

'It's happened before.' He said, still holding me, 'the stones can transport people through time. They don't always come from the same time, but they always seem to come back here.' I pulled away from him and wiped my eyes.

'So am I stuck here or can the stones take me back home too?' I asked. He looked down at me with his hands still at my shoulders.

'You can go back,' he said kindly, he knew this was my only hope, 'but only when the stones let you.' He hugged me again. 'I'll take you up there myself tomorrow, but for now you should get some sleep, you can stay here, you'll be safe here. I believe my sister has had one of the spare rooms prepared. I'll show you to it.' He took my hand and helped me to my feet.

'I'm sorry, what's your name?' I asked.

'I'm Jamie Fraser,' He said. 'and this is Lallybroch.'


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2

I awoke the next morning to the sound of children playing outside. I slipped out of bed and moved across to the window. From the sight that met my eyes it was very easy to believe that this was 1747. At that thought a wave of anxiety hit me, making me feel as though something had hit me very hard in the head. What if I couldn't get back? My sister must be worried sick. What if I'm stuck here forever? And no one will ever know what happened to me. I staggered backwards and sat on the bed. I had taken off my wet clothes to sleep but I was still wrapped in the blanket Jamie had given me the night before. I pulled it tighter around me just as there came a knock at the door which made me jump.

'Annie?' It was him.

'Er, just a moment,' I replied as I tried to better cover myself with the blanket. I noticed a nightdress hanging over the end of the bed, slipped that over my head and opened the door.

'Good morning,' Jamie said, 'how are you feeling today?'

'Fine.' I said, without really thinking about it. He raised his eyebrows.

'Really?' I managed half a smile.

'I've been better.' I said.

'I thought so,' he replied, 'well when you're dressed there's breakfast downstairs waiting, and then we'd best be getting off to those stones.' He looked slightly uneasy as he said this, as though he were trying to put on a brave face. I nodded.

'I'll be right there.'

I closed the door and picked up my clothes from the floor. They were still wet through. Wondering what to do I turned and noticed a dress folded up on the side. I picked it up, the fabric was incredibly heavy, 'my god, how am I supposed to wear this?' I muttered. I unfolded it and studied it a moment. 'How am I supposed to get into this?' After wrestling with the dress for what seemed like an age, I was finally in it. I probably hadn't fastened it up right, but I felt proud of myself for figuring out how to get in it at all and at least I was wearing something dry and warm.

I went downstairs and met with Jamie, who was buttering a piece of bread. He looked up as I entered the room and scoffed at me.

'What?' I asked.

'Your dress is on the wrong way round.' He said smiling.

'Oh.' I replied quietly. I looked down at myself. Now he'd said it, it seemed so obvious. I chuckled, and then I was laughing hard and couldn't stop. The last twenty-four hours had been so gruelling and miserable that having something to laugh at was a welcome release. Jamie laughed too, and I got the feeling he hadn't had reason to laugh in a while either.

'I'll sort it after I've eaten.' I smiled.

After breakfast I headed back up to my room to rectify my fashion faux pas and to gather my things. From the open window, I could hear the woman I had met last night, Jamie's sister, scolding the children playing in the yard. For some reason this made me smile. I collected up my wet clothes from the floor and my phone, still vigilantly telling me the date and time 270 years in the future. I also picked up the blanket off the bed. Before I made my way downstairs, I stopped and took a photo of the hall from the landing. Jamie walked into the shot just as I was taking it.

'What are you doing?' He asked, his eyes wide with an extremely puzzled look on his face.

'Nothing.' I said as I made my way down the stairs, hastily trying to stuff my phone into the pocket of my dress. He studied me frowning for a while before deciding, 'Ah I don't have time to ask, are you ready?'

'Yes,' I replied eagerly, 'am I dressed properly now?' I stood back so he could have a look at me.

'I think so,' he replied. 'It's lucky you're about the same size and build as my sister.'

'Oh, where is she? I'd like to say thank you.' I didn't want these people to think we had lost all manners in the future.

'In the yard with the bairns.' Jamie replied and led the way.

In the yard there were two horses saddled up. A wave of fear came over me. The closest I had ever got to riding a horse was having a donkey ride on the beach at Scarborough when I was little. How on earth was I going to manage to ride, a pretty big now I was up close, horse all the way back across country to Craigh na dun? Jamie, however must have seen the look of terror on my face.

'Can you ride?' He asked. I shook my head.

'I've never ridden a horse.' He frowned at me slightly and then called, 'Fergus, we shan't be needing two horses, only one.' A curly haired boy came running over. 'Jenny's over there.' Jamie said to me, pointing over to a bench where his sister was cleaning a graze on a little boy's knee. I crossed the yard over to her.

'There now, you'd best be a bit more careful, just go steady.' She was saying to the boy. He jumped up and ran off.

'Jenny?' I said as she stood up to face me. We really were of a similar height, both quite short, and both of us quite slender, but with a womanly figure at the same time. We were also both very pale skinned with a sprinkling of freckles on our noses and arms. One major difference though was our hair. Hers was long and dark, tied back in a practical bun, mine chin length and red. Not as dark red as her brothers, but a lighter, fairer red, and all tatty and knotted for having been rained and slept on. 'I wanted to say thank you for letting me stay, and for the dress.' She gave me a quick glance up and down.

'Well you're not wearing it exactly right but the fit's not bad. It's no problem though, I couldn't have left you out in the rain and the cold.' I smiled at her, though she didn't smile back.

'Thank you.' I said again, 'Goodbye.' I walked back over to Jamie, his face looked quite stern but I couldn't tell why.

'Are we ready then?' He asked.

'Yep.' I replied, though he barely waited for my answer and quite unexpectedly hoisted me up and pretty much flung me over the saddle, before plonking himself down behind me.

'You'll be okay Jamie.' Jenny called up to him. I couldn't tell whether it was a statement or a question. He dug his heels into the horse and we were away.

Jamie didn't talk much on the journey. Occasionally he would point things out to me in the landscape or tell me how far away we were, but that was all. Something was weighing heavily on his mind. Very soon my legs began to ache, but Jamie seemed a man on a mission, desperate to get there. There was something about this that made me too scared to ask if we could stop.

At some point in the afternoon, he suddenly slowed down and came to a halt.

'There it is.' He said, though I felt it was as much to himself as it was to me. We stayed looking at the stone circle ahead of us a moment, then set off again, at a much steadier pace this time.

When we at last reached the stones, Jamie slid down off the horse. He stared into the circle for a while, with a severe look on his face. He then turned to help me down. My legs buckled under me immediately, the hurt so badly, but Jamie caught me.

'I'm fine,' I said, 'just a little shaky, but he picked me up and carried me into the circle anyway. He put me down in front of the largest stone and looked down at me frowning.

'Can you hear it?' He asked. I listened. I could hear the wind rustling through the leaves on the trees and through the long grass, and I could hear the sound of my own heart beating hard with anxiety and excitement. For a second I even swore I could hear Jamie's heart beating just as hard and fast too, but I couldn't hear the buzzing sound I had heard before when I had fallen through the stones yesterday morning.

'No.' I said.

'Seems like the stones aren't ready for you to go then.' Jamie said, and he marched off back to the horse.


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3

'What now then?' I asked, hurrying after him.

'You can stay at Lallybroch.' He said, 'I doubt Jenny'll like it much but she'll get used to it. I think you should be safe there for now.' I didn't like the sound of this 'for now' but I didn't really have a lot of choice. Jamie lifted me up to put me back on the horse, but at that moment I'd had an idea.

'Wait!' I cried. He put me back on the ground. 'Do you have a knife?'

'What do you want a knife for?' He asked suspiciously, but handed me his anyway. I took it and walked back up to the stones. Jamie followed. I sat down behind one of the smaller standing stones and set to work.

'What are you doing?' He asked curiously.

'I'm trying to leave a message for my sister in the rock. Hopefully, 270 years from now, when I've disappeared, she'll come up here and find it. It's a slim chance, it'll probably have worn off by then, but it's the only way I can think of letting my family know I'm okay.'

'Here let me help you.'

We spent ages trying to carve the letters sufficiently deep enough into the stone. When we'd finished, you could sort of make out a message which read:

ELLA, I'M OKAY

I WILL BE COMING HOME

I LOVE YOU

ANNIE

'Will that do it?' Jamie asked.

'I don't know, I can only hope so.'

We set off on our journey back to Lallybroch, but before long it began to grow dark. Jamie suggested we should stop and set up camp for the night, which we did next to a copse of trees. After we'd eaten and settled down for the night, I found my mind was racing. I had so many questions, and I wasn't even sure there were answers to most of them. There were a few things I wanted to ask though.

'Jamie?'

'Yes'

'Are you from the future?'

'What? No,' I could see the incredulous look on his face in the fire light as he turned to look at me, 'why did you think that?'

'You said last night, that this had happened before, that other people had fallen back in time through the stones. I just wondered if it was you who it had happened to.'

'Not me, no.' He replied sighing.

'But you have known someone it happened to?'

'Yes.' He said sadly. He inhaled deeply. 'My wife, she was from the future, she came back from 1946.'

'Where is she now?' I asked.

'She went back,' his voice cracked, 'I sent her back.'

'I'm sorry.' I whispered. I reached out a hand to his shoulder as a gesture of comfort. He took my hand in his and squeezed it gently.

'It's alright lass,' he replied, sniffing and wiping his face on his blankets, 'it was just before the Battle of Culloden, she had told me that the Jacobite army would suffer huge massive losses in that battle, I didnae think I had much chance of survival, and even if I did survive the battle, I thought I would be captured and tried for treason. And Claire, Claire was pregnant with our child. I couldnae let her stay. See she had a husband, in the 1940s, before she came here, and I didnae much like the idea of sending her off to be with another man but, if it meant that our child would be safe, and have the chance to be raised by a family with two loving parents, then I knew it had to be done. So I sent her back.' He was crying. So was I. As he was telling me his story, I could see it all clear as day, through his eyes, as if his memories were playing out in front of mine. I could feel his heart tearing apart as he watched her disappear through the stones, back to her other husband. I saw her. Her long brown curls and golden brown eyes, and felt his pain as he wondered whether he would ever see them again. I was still holding his hand, stroking it with my thumb.

'Do you think she will come back?' I whispered.

'I dinnae ken.'

'I hope she does.' He smiled weakly.

The next morning, we woke early, ate and packed up camp quickly. Jamie seemed in better spirits this morning, and chatted happily about life at Lallybroch.

'Just as long as you mind not to get under her feet, I'm sure Jenny'll take to you in no time.'

'I'll bear that in mind.' I laughed.

Soon we could see Lallybroch up ahead in the distance, smoke curling out of its chimneys. I tried my best to convince myself it was a welcome sight, but still in the back of my mind was my anxiety to get home, back to my own time. As we got closer, Jamie suddenly stopped the horse.

'We need to get into the woods.' He declared quietly.

'What's the matter?' I asked as we moved into the trees.

'Redcoats, in the yard, can you see them?' I stared hard, and sure enough I saw a man exiting the front door. There was no mistaking the colour of his uniform.

'What do they want?' I asked.

'Me probably, or any other former Jacobites. They want to cart us off to England to stand trial.'

'What are we going to do?' Jamie thought for a moment, not taking his eyes off the house for a second.

'There's a cave down by the stream. We'll have to go there, hide, until I'm sure it's safe to return home.'

'How long will that be?'

'Days, could be weeks, let's go.' He dismounted, helped me down and we crept through the woods towards the sound of running water.

'Here, the cave entrance is under the ivy.' Jamie said as he took my hand and helped me across the stream.

A little while later I was sitting hunched up in the back of the cave with three blankets wrapped round me, feeling very sorry for myself. I could not believe it. Just as I was beginning to get used to the idea that I was going to be here in 1747 for a while, I end up being stuck in a cold damp cave for an undetermined amount of time. Jamie was sitting close to the mouth of the cave, hidden under the ivy. He'd been there for a long while, trying to listen out for any signs that someone was close by, but there had been nothing. Eventually, he moved towards the back of the cave and sat down beside me.

'I'm sorry about this.' He said.

'It's okay.' Even though I felt utterly miserable, I knew our predicament couldn't be helped. If anything it was me who should be sorry. I shouldn't even be here. It's me who has intruded on his life and was a liability to him right now. Jamie must have sensed how I was feeling.

'It's alright,' he said, 'dinnae fash yersel, we'll be fine here, I've hidden here plenty of times before.' I admired his attempts to lift my spirits, even though it was evident he himself was worried. I decided to play along.

'So shall we play a game to pass the time?' I said, trying to sound cheerful.

'We could,' he replied, 'but I thought perhaps you could tell me a bit about yourself.' I sighed.

'What do you want to know?' He thought for a moment.

'How old are you?'

'23,' I replied, 'born in 1993.'

'And you said you were from York? What's that like?'

'Well it's a beautiful city in North Yorkshire in the north of England.' I said. 'It's an old city, lots of history, even in this time it's an old city.'

'And what's your sister like?' My sister. A pang of sadness hit me right in my stomach. I just hoped she'd been able to find my message.

'She's… we're very close, she's a few years younger than me, but we're very close.' I couldn't bring myself to say anything else about her. Thinking about her and what her and my family and friends must be going through after my disappearance was too painful.

'Does she have red hair too?' He asked.

'No, hers is brown and wavy, I'm the only one with red hair in my immediate family.'

'You could be Scottish.' He said. His efforts to raise my spirits by keeping me taking were kind of working.

'Maybe, I probably have Scottish ancestors somewhere, but I think the red hair is more likely Irish. My mum had Irish relatives.' I told him.

'Well you look as though you could be a Scot.' He said.

'Is that a compliment?' I smiled at him.

'Of course it is,' he replied smiling back, 'maybe I'm one of your ancestors.' He teased. I chuckled.

'Maybe.' I replied.

We sat in the cave chatting for most of the day. Conversation came surprisingly easy to us considering the amount of time that separated us from one another. It felt so bizarre that two people from completely different periods of history should have such a strong connection. The fact that we were in there hiding from danger was almost forgotten. Just as it was beginning to get dark however, we heard a noise. It sounded as though there was someone just outside the cave. Jamie sprang to his feet and made his way towards the entrance. There was definitely someone out there. There came a cough and suddenly the ivy covering the mouth of the cave was pulled back.


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter 4

'Mi Lord!' It was the curly haired boy I had seen yesterday at Lallybroch. He was absolutely filthy.

'Fergus!' Jamie hissed, 'get inside!'

'Mi Lord,' the boy said, the redcoats have gone, but we would probably do better to wait until morning to go back to the house, just in case.' He had the strangest accent; French with just the slightest hint of a Scottish twang. 'I brought some food and brandy mi Lord.'

'Fergus, is everyone alright at the house?' Jamie enquired.

'Yes mi Lord. Mi Lady, your sister, thinks they just wanted to scare us.'

'How did you escape them?'

'I was hidden up the chimney, it was mi Lord Ian's idea.'

'Good, I'm glad you're safe laddie.' Jamie said patting him on the back and leading him to the back of the cave. 'Fergus, this is Annie, she's going to be staying with us at Lallybroch for a while.'

'Mi Lady.' Fergus bowed. It felt strange to be addressed in such a formal manner, and just a tad uncomfortable.

'Nice to meet you Fergus.' I said, 'Where are you from?'

'He was an orphan Claire and I brought back from Paris.' Jamie answered.

'Paris!' I exclaimed, 'Wow.'

'Yes mi lady, have you been there?'

'I have,' I replied, thinking about how completely unrecognisable the Paris I visited must be in comparison to the city Fergus knew, 'it's a wonderful place.'

We lit a small fire in the back of the cave and ate the food and drank the brandy Fergus had brought. It made me feel very drowsy and I soon drifted off to sleep, to the sounds of Jamie and Fergus' voices chattering.

As I slept I had the strangest dreams. I saw a boy dying, he was my brother. I saw bedsheets covered with blood, my mother was dead. I saw a man with a beard, he was my uncle, he taught me to fight. I saw Paris. I saw a man in a red coat with evil in his eyes. I saw Jenny, she was my sister. The man attacked her and I felt his lash upon my back. I saw my father dead, and blamed the evil man. I saw a woman, with thick brown curls and golden eyes. She was Claire. I saw a wedding, she was the bride, I was happy. I saw her again, at some kind of trial, with a red-haired woman. I whisked her away to safety, the red-haired haired woman was not so lucky. I saw the evil man again. I saw the horrible things he did to me. I saw Claire. I saw Paris again, only this time Claire was with me. I saw her wearing a red dress. I was sitting speaking to a man wearing silk. He was the prince. I was back in Scotland. There was a battle, I saw friends die. I saw myself slay my uncle, the man who had taught me to fight, and then I saw what I had seen the previous night; Claire disappearing back through the stones, and I knew then that through all this, I had been Jamie.

'Mi Lady?' I woke with a start. Fergus was shaking me gently. I looked over at Jamie, who briefly glanced at me, before turning away to pack up the camp. A few moments later we were on our way back to Lallybroch.

'Did you sleep alright?' Jamie asked me.

'I slept,' I replied, 'It wasn't particularly peaceful though, I had some strange dreams.'

'Aye, so did I.' I stared up at him, did he know somehow what I'd seen in my dreams? He stared intently back at me, as though he were searching for something. 'We'll talk about it later.' He said.

As we approached the house, Jenny came out to meet us. She hugged Jamie.

'I'm so glad you're here, I was worried sick.'

'I'm alright Jenny, I was hiding up in the cave, luckily we spotted them before they spotted us.' Jenny only just seemed to notice then that I was there. She looked at me, then back to Jamie. 'Annie's going to have to stay with us for a while.' He said.

'Right…well…' Jenny began, as Jamie had predicted, she didn't seem too happy about this turn of events, 'Ian and the men are over by the stables, you and Fergus can go and see what needs doing there, Annie, you come with me, there's plenty to do to set this place to rights after those bastards came through.'

The house was in a state. It seemed as though the redcoats had upturned every piece of furniture in the house, there were curtains and paintings slashed, pages torn out of books, the place was trashed. Jenny set me to work sorting out the furniture. She didn't seem to trust me with much else.

It took most of the day to restore order to the house, and Jenny still wasn't happy with everything but by the evening it felt like a home again and Jamie, Jenny, her husband Ian and I were all sat by the fire together. Ian was a nice man. He made me feel very welcome, and I felt that his quiet, unassuming, but kind personality complimented Jenny's personality well. We were all enjoying a drink together and regaling one another with stories of our childhood.

'Do you remember that time Jamie fell through the stable roof?' Ian said chuckling. Jenny almost spat out her drink from laughing, Jamie didn't look quite so amused.

'I told him I had thrown his ball up there,' Jenny said giggling, 'so he climbed up to get it, the last thing he saw before he fell through was me waving up at him with the ball in my hand.' She fell about laughing.

'A cruel trick.' Jamie said smiling. I found it difficult to contribute my own stories of course. They involved so many things that were completely alien to this era, but I was more than happy to just sit back and listen to theirs. I began to believe that I really could feel at home here.

A few hours later, Jenny and Ian went to bed, leaving Jamie and I alone.

'So these dreams I had,' he said to me, 'I didnae really understand a lot of them but I think you might be able to help me.'

'Okay.' I replied apprehensively.

'Your sister, she has wavy brown hair, like you said, and a scar just here.' He said pointing to the space on the bridge of his nose, right between his eyes.

'Yes, from when she had chicken pox when she was little.' I answered. How did he know this? Had he seen my life in his dreams as I had seen his?

'And she was very sick when she was little?' he asked, his brow furrowed.

'Yes, when she was three, she was in hospital for six weeks. She could have died.' I told him. 'Your…your brother died young, didn't he?'

'Aye,' Jamie said, 'he did.' He looked to be deep in thought. I wondered if he had come to the same conclusion I had, that what we had seen was one another's memories.

'I saw Claire,' I said nervously. His eyes widened, 'in my dream, I saw your wedding. I also saw a trial, who was the red-haired woman?'

'Geillis Duncan,' Jamie said sighing, 'Claire said she was from the future too, but from a different time to her. They were put on trial for witchcraft. Geillis sacrificed herself to save Claire.' We sat in silence for a while, both of us deep in thought.

'Why have we seen these things? It seems we've seen each other's memories, through each other's eyes.' I said at last.

'I dinnae ken, lass.' He replied, staring into nothing.

'Perhaps there is some kind of connection between us, and that brought me through the stones and drew me to Lallybroch.' I said. I didn't really know what I was talking about, but I was desperate to make sense of this whole thing. What if my falling through the stones hadn't been an accident?

'Perhaps I am your ancestor after all,' he said as he turned to look at me and smiled, 'you sure you're no a Fraser?'

'I'm sure, my surname's Whiting.' I smiled back at him. We sat in silence a little while longer, staring into the fire.

'Who is the man with the broken nose?' Jamie asked at length. My heart sank as if it were made of lead. I knew exactly who he meant,'

'Someone I'd rather forget.' I said stiffly.

'He wisnae very nice to you.'

'No.' I shook my head. A few more moments passed in silence. 'Who is the redcoat with the evil in his eyes?' I asked. Jamie's face fell.

'You saw him?' He asked. All the colour had drained from his face. I nodded. 'You saw what he did to me, and what he made me do?' Again, I nodded. Jamie stared at me long and hard. 'He's someone I'd rather forget too.'


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter 5

Over the next few days I tried my best to fit into life at Lallybroch. These were difficult times, and I wanted to be as little a burden on Jamie, Jenny and Ian as I possibly could. Jenny had tried me out helping in the kitchen at first. This wasn't too bad, I didn't think. Jenny disagreed however.

'I've never seen one person make so much mess in the kitchen! You're wasting food just with the amount of mess you're making!' She also wasn't too pleased when she caught me trying to make Yorkshire puddings.

'What in God's name is that?' She cried. I don't think she could have made a more disgusted face if she tried.

'It's a Yorkshire pudding, I thought we could put the stew in it?' I replied. She muttered something under her breath in Gaelic and stormed away. She still ate them however, and secretly loved them. Ian told me so.

One morning, I happened to pass Jenny struggling with her youngest daughter, who had a cold.

'Come on now, settle down now, mammy's got a lot of things to do. Look at all these clothes I've got to mend.' She was saying to the crying toddler.

'Jenny?' I said quietly.

'One moment Kitty, yes Annie?

'I know how to sew, I could med those clothes for you.'

'You can sew?' She seemed surprised.

'Yes, my mother's a seamstress, she taught me. I can knit too.' I said. She looked at me for a moment before Kitty started crying again.

'Thank you, Annie, that'd be a great help.' She said and smiled at me as she left with her poorly, crying little girl in her arms.

This must have put me in Jenny's good books, as she was a lot friendlier with me from then on. She even gifted me some fabric to make my own dresses from. One afternoon, when we were washing the bed sheets together, out in the yard, I finally felt that she had got used to having me around, just as Jamie had promised.

'How's Kitty doing?' I asked her.

'Oh, she's fine, her cold's pretty much gone, but she keeps pretending it's bad when she catches me looking so I'll give her special treatment.' She laughed. 'she's going to have to learn to be a bit more independent, especially now there's another one on the way.'

'You're pregnant?' I exclaimed. She nodded with a smile. 'Congratulations!' I cried and flung my arms around her, she even hugged me back.

'Hey Annie,' she said in an odd sort of voice.

'Yes?' I replied.

'Can you show me how to make those… those Yorkshire puddings. Ian and Jamie liked them…' I grinned at her, and it took all my effort not to laugh.

'Of course I can.' I said.

Jamie and I continued to dream about one another's lives, which could lead to some awkward and uncomfortable exchanges in the mornings. But not always…

'Annie Whiting, the woman of my dreams.' He proclaimed, bursting into the dining room where I was mending a tear in the curtain one morning.

'What now Fraser?' I asked suspiciously. I had learned not to trust him when he had that silly smirk on his face.

'Do you remember that time when you were a wee bairn, oh about this big,' he indicated below his knee, and you were doing handstands in the school yard, only you had no under garments on, and all the wee laddies saw your…'

'Yes, I remember Jamie.' I cut him short. I shook my head at him. 'You're such a knob.' I said laughing.

'I'm a what?' He asked grinning ear to ear. He knew it wasn't going to be kind. He loved to wind me up.

'A knob is another word for a penis.' I jokingly snapped back at him. He pretended to be shocked.

'That's no language for a lady!'

'Oh yes, I'm sorry I forgot your delicate ears can't handle it.' I gave him a cheeky grin and he smirked back at me. I could give as good as I got.

A lot of the time however, it was very difficult having these dreams. There were true horrors in Jamie's life. Ones which I was just not equipped to deal with. One night I was having a particularly awful one involving the redcoat Jamie had said he wanted to forget, when I was roughly shaken awake.

'Annie?' It was Jamie.

'Jamie?' I said sleepily.

'Are you alright lass? I wisnae asleep yet and I could hear you, well it was more I just knew you were crying.' He looked sad. 'I can guess what you were dreaming about.' He sat on the bed next to me and put an arm round me. I rested my head on his shoulder and wrapped my arms round his waist.

'You're a brave man, James Fraser.' I said. He said nothing, but he kissed my forehead and began stroking my hair. We sat like this in silence for a while.

'Have you ever wondered,' I said finally, 'why the stones bring people back here, to this time?'

'I cannae say I have lassie.' Jamie yawned.

'I don't believe it was an accident. There must be a reason Claire, Geillis and me were brought here. There has to be a purpose, otherwise the stones would have just let me straight back through, home.'

'Aye, I'd never thought about it like that.' He said sleepily.

'I think the reason I was brought here must have something to do with this connection you and I have.'

'Mmm.' Jamie's eyelids were drooping. He was half asleep, and soon enough I drifted off too.

I woke up the next morning with my head resting in Jamie's lap. He was sat up straight against the head of the bed, still fast asleep. Head thrown back, mouth wide open, snoring loudly. I slipped out of bed and dressed as quickly and quietly as I could so as not to wake him, and crept out the door. I met Jenny in the hall.

'Have you seen Jamie?' she asked, 'I've got a job for him to do and I cannae find him anywhere.'

'He's er… he's in my room.' I stammered. Why did I say that!?

'Really?' She raised an eyebrow and headed off up the stairs.

That afternoon I ran into her again as she was sat in hr favourite comfy chair with her feet up, taking a break from her chores.

'Come and sit down lass.' She beckoned. I did as I was told and sat in the chair opposite her, though I felt slightly apprehensive after this morning.

'Oh, I'm exhausted.' She sighed. She stared at me for a while. Her eyes were the same deep blue as her brothers. I didn't need a deep psychic connection with her though to know what she was thinking right now. 'So, you and Jamie seem to be getting along well.' She said. There it was, the exact thing I'd been dreading.

'I find him an easy man to get on with.' I said tactfully.

'Aye,' she replied, 'helps that he's a bonny lad too.' I didn't know what to say to this so I just vaguely nodded. 'How comes he was in your room last night?'

'I had a nightmare, he heard me crying and came to see if I was alright.' I hoped I sounded truthful because I knew how suspicious this must look to her.

'Aye, he said the same thing when I asked him. I just wondered…' She trailed off.

'No, he has a wife, I would never…' I began, but she cut me off.

'Aye but his wife hasnae been seen or heard of in over a year now.' She said. She looked at me long and hard. 'I just want him to be happy, Annie…' But as she said these words, a wave of terror suddenly swept over my entire body. I felt a pain that wasn't mine and instinctively knew what it meant.

'What's the matter?' Jenny asked.

'There's something wrong.' I heard myself say, 'Jamie's in trouble.'


	6. Chapter 6

Chapter 6

Jenny and I hurried up to the mill where Jamie had been working, picking up Fergus along the way. When we got there, we found Jamie flat on his back on the floor, trapped under a mill wheel.

'Jamie!' I cried, 'What happened?'

'I tried to lift the wheel…' he began, but the weight of the wheel, or perhaps his embarrassment cut him short.

'Jamie Fraser why on earth would you try and lift it by yourself.' Jenny shouted. Fergus and I had already started trying to shift the stone but it was too heavy.

'Because I'm a damn fool, Jenny,' Jamie winced, 'now will you try and help me out of here.' Jenny bent down to try and help.

'No!' I cried, 'Not while you're pregnant!' I saw the look on her face. 'please, go and fetch some more men.' She looked for a moment as though she might argue, but she turned and left and did as I'd asked. Eventually, Fergus, me and two other men managed to free Jamie from under the heavy stone.

'Thank you.' Jamie said as he tried to stand. He seemed to be very weak on his left foot, and collapsed almost immediately, Fergus and I helped him up.

'Bloody stone,' he grunted, 'I dropped it on my foot.'

'You might have broken it,' I said, 'let's get you back to the house and we can have a look at it.' He looked slightly uncomfortable as I said this, though I wasn't sure it was entirely because of the pain in his foot. Fergus and I helped him back to the house with Jenny in tow.

A little while later Jamie was sat by the fire with his leg up. I thought his foot was just bruised not broken, but I didn't really have much idea what I was talking about, I'd only done a basic first aid course back in the 21st century. Jenny seemed to agree with me in any case.

'You're lucky,' she told him, 'Annie here seems to have an extra sense, we were sitting in here and she knew you were in trouble somehow. It's her you have to thank for us coming to rescue you so fast. She's quite the woman to have around.'

'Aye,' Jamie said, he had given me an odd look at the news that I had sensed his trouble, ' _'S e rìbhinn ruadh mhaiseach a th' innte._ ' Jenny raised an eyebrow.

'He says you're a fair red headed maiden.' She clarified. I smiled.

'Well two out of three isn't bad.' I chuckled. Jenny looked mildly horrified. Jamie laughed.

That evening it was just Jamie and I sat by the fire. Jenny had tasked me with keeping an eye on him, making sure he didn't walk about too much and further injure his foot. I was reading a book. Jamie hadn't spoken much but I could tell he was mulling something over.

'I need a drink.' He announced suddenly. 'A good ale wouldnae go amiss.' I sighed deeply.

'Ooh that sounds like a good idea.' I said and wandered off to fetch some.

'You like ale lassie?' Jamie asked when I returned with the drinks.

'Of course,' I said, 'I'm a Yorkshire lassie, ale is like mother's milk to me.' I smiled.

' _Slàinte Mhath_.' He said.

' _Slàinte.'_ We drank. And drank some more, and more until I began to feel a little tipsy.

'You know,' Jamie said, 'If you do end up having to stay here, if the stones don't let you back to your own time, I think you'd fare well here.'

'Well hopefully that won't happen,' I said, 'but what do you mean?'

'Well like I said, you're a bonny red-haired…lass, even if you're no a maiden.' I smiled. He laughed. 'You'd find a husband easily, and I'd help you, I wouldnae let any man near you who I didnae think was suitable.'

'Well that's good to know Jamie, and I appreciate it, I really do, but I'd really rather it didn't come to that.' I managed a smile. I really was touched by his sentiment, but it had reminded me of my biggest fear, that I wouldn't be able to get back.

'I'm sorry,' He said, 'I'm sure the stones will let you back, I just wanted you to know that… well I've come to care about you a lot, and I'll look after you. I dinnae ken why but, from the moment I met you, I felt as if I could trust you with anything. It was almost as if I'd already known you for years, that we'd always been together, always trusted one another, always been a part of one another.' He sounded so genuine I felt as though I would cry. I knew exactly what he meant, I felt exactly the same, and I was certain that it was what had drawn me to Lallybroch that day I fell through the stones, which now seemed an age ago.

'Like meeting up with an old friend you haven't seen for a long time, and you carry on as if no time has passed at all.' I said. He nodded. 'There is some kind of connection between us, and I believe that is what brought us together in the first place. I've been thinking a lot about what that connection might be.'

'And what have you come up with?' I sighed. I wasn't really sure what I'd come up with. The conclusions I had come to certainly weren't things I had previously believed in, but then I never would have believed it possible that one could be transported back in time through an ancient stone circle.

'Do you know what reincarnation is?' I asked uncertainly.

'Aye, I think so. A person dies and they're born again as someone else.' He replied.

'Well, what if that's us? What if you're not my ancestor, but are in fact me, in a past life. You die at some point in this century, or even the next, and eventually your soul passes on to me? And that's how we're connected?' I felt so ridiculous for voicing this idea out loud, and I suspected it was only because of the ale that I'd actually dared say it. Jamie didn't seem particularly shocked however.

'After today I'd believe that.' He said, his face serious, 'You somehow knew I was in trouble and because of that you were able to save me. I dinnae ken how you'd have known that if we weren't one and the same.' He smiled. It was nice he hadn't ridiculed me for this. That was what I'd been afraid of. Perhaps he had been thinking it too.

'You know, I'd never really met a northern English lassie before you.' He said. 'You're almost like Scots in some ways.'

'Really?' I laughed.

'Aye, you're bloody minded and fiercely proud of where you're from.'

'Am I really?' This amused me.

'Aye,' he said smiling, 'I reckon you could fool a few particularly dim witted red coats with that accent of yours as well.'

'Well it wouldn't be the first time someone who wasn't familiar with it made that mistake.' I chuckled. 'I suppose some of the words we use are the same, aye and bairns and stuff like that, perhaps not much has changed in 270 years.' We laughed. 'You should see Scotland in the 21st century.' I said.

'Aye?' I nodded.

'Still talking about independence from the English.' From the look on his face Jamie seemed for a moment unable to process this. He downed his drink and shook his head.

'Scots eh?' He said. I laughed. I poured us some more drinks. 'There is something I've been wondering about you and your time, only I wasnae sure if I wanted to know.'

'What's that?' I asked taking a sip from my cup.

'That silver thing you had in your hand the first day you were here, what is it? I've seen it in my dreams sometimes too.'

'I'll show you.' I said. I went to my room to fetch my rucksack which had my phone and my camera in it. I'd switched my phone off when I'd realised I couldn't get back through the stones so there was still some battery left. I held the two objects in my hands. How on earth was I going to explain these to Jamie?

I tried my best to drunkenly explain what a telephone was, and then what a camera was, and then explain how my mobile phone was both a telephone and a camera, and did lots of other things too. I wasn't completely convinced he'd understood, and I wasn't surprised. He had a kind of glazed over look on his face while I was talking.

'So, this little silver thing, it can capture images of moments in time, but you can also contact almost anyone else in the world from it.' He said incredulous. His face was a picture.

'Pretty much, yeah.' I said. He was clearly having trouble processing this, and I didn't blame him. 'Look at this,' I said, 'this little black dot here is also a camera, and if I touch this,' I pressed the front facing camera button, 'we can see ourselves.' Jamie's eyes widened at the sight of himself on the screen. His jaw dropped. 'Now if you smile, I'll take a picture of us.' He just about managed a weak smile, but as I took the photo he had turned to look at me.

'I dinnae ken, Annie… I just dinnae ken…'

I took some more photos of him on my camera, and showed him how to take them too. He seemed to enjoy it after a while, and wanted to take pictures of everything he could from where he was sitting. I couldn't help but laugh at him.

'Jamie?' I said after letting him play for a while. 'Would you be able to teach me something too.'

'What's that?' He replied, looking at me through the camera viewfinder.

'Can you teach me to ride a horse? Like you said I don't know how long I'm going to be here, so I think it would be useful for me to learn.'

'Of course I'll teach you to ride.' He said, snapping a photo of me.

'And… can you teach me to fight?' I continued. He put the camera down.

'Now why should a lassie want to learn to do that?' He asked. His face suddenly serious.

'Well, why shouldn't she?' I said. He frowned and studied me for a while.

'We'll see about the horses first.' He said.


	7. Chapter 7

Chapter 7

Over the next few weeks Jamie took a couple of hours out of each day to teach me to ride. It took a lot of shouting, swearing and screaming to start with, but eventually I got the hang of it, and Jamie and I would spend our afternoons chasing round the fields surrounding Lallybroch.

'So…' I said as we sat in the grass to rest one day. 'When are you going to teach me to fight then? Jamie sighed.

'I dinnae ken why you should want to learn to do that.' He said. He stared at me for a while. I knew he didn't want to teach me, but he knew I wasn't going to back down just yet. 'First lesson.' He said standing up, I followed suit. 'How to run away quick enough.' He grinned widely and lunged at me as I shrieked and turned and ran as fast as I could. I fancied myself to be a fairly fast runner, but in my skirts it was difficult, and even though Jamie had let me get away to begin with, he soon caught up. He grabbed me and we fell to the ground laughing and panting.

'I think I need to work on that one.' I said.

'Aye, so do I.' We laid in the grass a while to rest. With my head resting across Jamie's stomach, I could feel every breath he took. 'Annie, I've been thinking.' He said.

'Yes?'

'When do you want to try and see if you can get back through the stones?' I was taken aback. This question caught me completely off guard. I still missed my home, and felt awful every time I thought about how my family must be dealing with my disappearance, but I also now felt that I would really sincerely miss this place when I did leave. I would miss Lallybroch, and the way of life I'd settled into here, a life that was at once much simpler than life in the 21st century, but also more engaging. Most of all however, I would of course miss Jamie. In him I had found one of the best friends I'd ever had. We were kindred spirits, cut from the same cloth, and to leave him behind here now would be like leaving a part of myself behind, even though, if indeed he was myself in a previous life, we should never have met.

'I-I don't know.' I said uncertainly.

'Mmmm.' Jamie grunted, I knew now why he had asked. He had been thinking the same things I had about our parting. 'I'll miss you.' He whispered, stroking my hair.

'I'll miss you too.'

The rest of that day I couldn't help but think about my leaving to go back to my own time. I knew Jamie hadn't asked because he wanted to get rid of me or give me a shove towards leaving, quite the opposite in fact. He didn't want me to leave, and I must say I empathised with him. My thoughts about leaving had become a lot more conflicted, but I knew I had to go at some point, for the sake of my family, and my love for them. I missed them immensely.

I then tried to find other reasons to leave.

'Jenny?' I asked the next afternoon as we were working in the kitchen. I was trying to make tattie scones. 'You don't mind me being here do you? I'm not too much of a burden am I? Because if you want me to leave…'

'Oh don't be daft, where would ye go?' She cut me off. I shrugged. 'Of course you're no a burden, the amount of work ye do around here, I dinnae ken what I'd do without ye sometimes.' She smiled kindly. I smiled back. 'And Jamie definitely wouldn't be able to do without ye.' She gave me a kind of knowing look. I felt my cheeks turn red.

'Of course he would.' I said stiffly.

'Oh come on Annie, I'm no stupid, yeh've got very close and I haven't seen him so happy in a long time.' I didn't know what to say. I knew what Jenny was getting at of course, but the truth was, because I'd always known Jamie had a wife, I'd never considered him in a romantic sense. Obviously I had recognised the fact that he was a very attractive man but because of Claire he'd always appeared to me to be 'off limits'. If Jenny was suggesting this wasn't the case however, how did I feel about him then? And how did he feel? Towards his absent wife? Towards me...?

'We're just friends.' I said. I hoped it sounded convincing. Jenny was still smiling.

'D'ye look at your other friends with the same puppy dog eyes ye look at him with? And do your other friends look at you the same? I can tell you now he disnae look at everyone like that.'

'He's married, Jenny.' I protested.

'And who knows if his wife is ever going to come back?' I didn't know how to answer that, and so I pretended to concentrate on rolling out my dough that was already too thin. I could still feel Jenny looking at me, with that smile on her face.

That evening Jamie and I were sat by the fire. He was telling me a story about some of his tenants, but I wasn't really listening properly. I was instead desperately trying to figure out what his feelings on the subject of mine and Jenny's conversation would be. I wondered whether she had spoken to him as well. I knew that he was still very much in love with Claire. What was less clear was whether or not he thought she would return. I wasn't convinced he thought she would. Why was I even considering this though? I had to leave at some point, just as Claire had done. I had decided as well now that I should leave sooner rather than later, if the stones would let me, to stop myself from getting further attached to life here.

'What's the matter, Annie?' Jamie had finished telling his story and I hadn't even realised.

'I'm fine.' I said, though I knew he could tell I definitely wasn't.

'Then why are you frowning so?' He asked as he came over to sit next to me. He put his arm round me, I tried not to lean into him as he did so but I couldn't help it. 'You'll get lines on your face if you keep doing that, so you'd best tell me what's going on.' I sighed deeply.

'I think I should probably try and go home soon.' I said.

'I see,' Jamie replied, 'you'll be missing your family wont ye?' He was trying to sound positive.

'Yeah.' I said vaguely, and then suddenly, without warning, I burst into tears.

'Ey, ey, shush now.' Jamie said, pulling me closer to him. 'There's no need for that now.' He kissed me on the head and rocked me gently back and forth until I had cried myself out, and exhausted I fell fast asleep.

The next morning I woke up in my own bed, to a knock on the door.

'Yes?'

'It's Jamie.' Came a voice from the other side of the door.

'Oh, come in.' I said, sitting up in bed. He came in and sat down on the edge of the bed. He seemed to be in a fairly cheery mood, but I knew there had to be a reason for him visiting me like this, rather than waiting to see me later.

'Did ye sleep well?' He asked.

'Yeah, I think so.' I replied, I still felt a bit groggy and my brain was still trying to process the strange dreams I had had.

'You were completely out of it,' he smiled, 'didnae even stir when I carried ye up to bed.' He looked at me smiling for a moment. His smile faded and he leaned over to bring me into a hug. 'I had a dream. I know what was bothering you last night. I saw what Jenny said.' My heart sank, and I felt mildly horrified. What was going to happen now? He kissed my forehead and then looked into my eyes, into my soul, which was also his, with those deep blue eyes. He was smiling. 'It's alright lassie.' He said.


	8. Chapter 8

**_Authors note: So sorry it's been forever since I updated, I've been super busy. Hope you enjoy the new chapter! Let us know what you think!_**

Chapter 8

'Pay her no mind, lass.' He said. The feeling of anxiety that had balled up in my chest dissolved. He patted me on the knee and stood up.

'I'll see you downstairs.' He said.

'Yeah…' I replied vaguely. I sat on the bed a moment staring into space, and my dream came back to me. I had been Jamie in it, as usual, but what I saw were recent memories. His memories concerning me. There was me sat sopping wet in front of the fire the night I arrived at Lallybroch. He had been anxious and wary of meeting another woman, another English woman, from the future. But as I had cried, frightened in his arms, he had felt a sense of protectiveness towards me. I, as Jamie had laughed at the girl who came down the stairs with her frock on backwards, and the laughter had been such a release, after feeling miserable for so long, I almost forgot where we would be going later that day. Arriving at the stones I felt sick, this was where I had left my Claire, but the stones would not take this girl back to her own time, and that night I found myself telling her things I had not spoken about, or even wanted to think about in so long. It felt good to let it out, and she felt familiar, as if she already knew. And then there were the dreams, this inexplicable link between us. It brought us close together, and we seemed to be one of the same, indeed, cut from the same cloth. I listened to her theories as to this connection, she was very clever, and full of wild ideas, and as she wondered why she had been sent here, so did I, but found I didn't much care why, I was just glad she was here, and had come to dread her leaving.

I was still sitting on my bed mulling this over when I heard voices from the yard. I crossed to the window and saw Jamie and Ian greeting two men and a young woman I had never seen before. I dressed as quick as I could and headed downstairs. I met our visitors in the hall.

'Ah Annie!' Jamie exclaimed, 'this is Domhnall McNair, his son Alastair and daughter Johanna. They'll be staying with us a while.'

'Pleased to meet you.' I smiled politely. Alastair looked as though he was probably about my age, he was tall and a bit gangly, with shoulder length brown hair and a smirking face. Johanna was younger, perhaps 17 or 18, and looked incredibly nervous, almost on the verge of tears. She was very petite and had thin sandy coloured hair and watery blue eyes. Their father, Domhnall had not particularly given his looks to either of his children. He was stocky, completely bald, there was more hair coming out of his ears than on his head and face. He had a very ruddy complexion and tiny black eyes. He did seem to have the same smirking thin mouth of his son tough.

'A Sassenach?' Domhnall bellowed. 'What brings ye to Scotland?' I looked to Jamie nervously, thankfully he rescued me.

'Annie's a distant relation, a very distant relation,' he added hastily, 'she wanted to find out about her family's history.'

'Yes!' I said relieved, 'I'm from York, but I'd heard that my great great great grandmother were a Scot who married a Yorkshireman.' Domhnall smirked.

'I thought ye had the look of a good Scottish woman about ye.' He said, 'What do ye think Alastair?'

'I think the lady is most beautiful.' He Alastair replied, inclining his head towards me. I didn't like the look in his eye. I forced a smile. At that moment Jenny and Ian came and joined our guests and I seized the opportunity.

'Jamie.' I whispered.

'Aye?' he said pulling me aside.

'Who are these people?'

'Tenants of mine.' He said. 'I dinnae ken what they want yet but they brought the lassie here so I can have a guess.'

'What?'

'They probably have ideas about marrying her to me,' he said vaguely, 'watch out for Domhnall…and Alastair.'

We re-joined our guests.

'I must say Jamie, I am glad to see that the rumours of ye being back living here are true.' Domhnall said.

'There are rumors?' Jamie replied, his brow furrowed in anxiety. The older man held up his hand.

'Hushed words among the locals, we wouldn't want the red coats turning up here for ye now would we?' There was something in the way he said this that made me feel uneasy. Jamie seemed to feel it too.

'Aye.' He replied.

That evening at dinner I found myself seated between the brother and sister Alastair and Johanna. Johanna had barely uttered a word since she had arrived, despite our attempts to engage her in conversation. The poor girl seemed absolutely terrified, most likely of her brother and father. I felt sorry for her.

'Your dress is very pretty Johanna.' I said to her, trying to get her to relax a little.

'Thank you.' She whispered.

'Aye very bonny.' Jamie added, seeing what I was trying to do, however this seemed to backfire as she flushed bright red and accidentally tipped over her cup.

'I'm sorry!' she exclaimed and I saw her eyes fill with tears.

'It's no matter! Dinnae fash!' Jenny said kindly, but she didn't catch the menacing look Domhnall was giving his daughter. The poor girl quietly excused herself and fled from the room. Domhnall looked livid.

After dinner Jenny told me that the men would be drinking together before turning in and so we should leave them to it.

'Should we go check on Johanna?' I asked her.

'We can try.' We went to her room, but before Jenny could knock we heard sobbing and what sounded suspiciously like a slap. Jenny winced. We pressed our ears to the door.

'How do ye expect to get a husband carrying on like that?' We heard Domhnalls voice from within. 'Yer a woman noo, no a wee bairn, yer an embarrassment.' The sobbing grew louder and we heard heavy footsteps heading towards us and quickly stepped back from the door. It opened.

'What do ye ladies want?' He asked, almost managing to compose himself.

'We were just heading up to bed and thought we'd see if Johanna wanted anything.' Jenny said quickly.

'No she doesn't,' he said, visibly annoyed. 'I went to ask the same thing.' He passed us and headed back down the stairs to join Jamie, Ian and Alastair.

'Johanna!' Jenny whispered, and gently tapped on the door, 'It's Jenny and Annie, can we come in?' but there came no reply and so we were forced to head to our own rooms.

'Poor lass.' I whispered.

'Aye,' Jenny replied, 'Good night, Annie.'

'Good night.'

A while later as I was reading in bed I heard a gentle tap on my door.

'Come in.' I said, thinking it was probably Jamie coming in for a chat, but the man who stood in the door way was skinny, and dark haired. I dropped my book and pulled the blankets up to my chin.

'We're ye expecting someone else?' Alastair smirked.


End file.
